On the Market: Betsy Sorrel extensively renovated North End home

Christine Davis

Friday

Mar 8, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 8, 2013 at 5:35 AM

Elizabeth "Betsy" Sorrel came to Palm Beach 20 years ago, and because she loves houses — and making them her projects — she’s ready to move on, having extensively remodeled her third island home, a British Colonial-style residence she bought nearly eight years ago at 745 N. Lake Way.

"I’ve done everything to it," Sorrel says. "It was built in the early 1990s, and things needed to be changed. I redid floors, bathrooms, kitchen and the roof, and I brought the doors and windows up to hurricane standards. I changed walls around. You name it, I changed it."

With her next project on the horizon, she has listed her five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath house — with 4,330 square feet of living space inside and out — for $2.995 million through agent Rosalind Clarke of the Corcoran Group. At the intersection of Fairview Road, a block south of the Palm Beach Country Club, the house has an attached 36-by-13-foot heated pool and a two-car garage among its amenities.

Architectural features of the two-story front facade are typical of the British Colonial style — shutters at the windows and a small covered portico with columns at the front door

The foyer and stair hall soar two floors high and directly to the south, through two large openings delineated by columns, is the living room. The dining room is to the north.

During the day the foyer is filled with natural light, thanks to a fanlight above the front door and two windows on the second level. The wood stair railing has been left in its natural finish, while the spindles are painted cream.

"Originally on the left when you walked in, there was no wall," Sorrel explains. "The entry was open to the dining room, so I separated the rooms and put in the hallway that separates the living room from the dining room"

That hallway also leads to rooms on the north end of the house.

In the living room, a pair of arched built-in cabinets accommodate display and storage. Ceilings are 10-feet high and embellished with crown molding. Floors throughout the living space are honed marble, and Sorrel added chair-rail molding to the walls. Two sets of French doors lead out to the rear courtyard.

In the center-island kitchen, she replaced the fronts of the cabinets, redid the floors and bought new appliances. She also replaced the countertops with stone.

"I went out of my way to pick special granites for both the kitchen and bathrooms. All have some green in it."

The kitchen’s breakfast area has a bay window that offers garden views. The landscaping was designed by Alan Stopek of Efflorescence Landscape Design in Loxahatchee.

East of the kitchen is the family room, which has a vaulted ceiling and French doors that open to the pool area.

From the south side of the living room, double doors open to the first-floor master bedroom suite, which has hardwood floors, a tray ceiling with recessed lighting and French doors to the pool area. The bathroom has double sinks, a large bathtub and a walk-in shower.

On the second floor, the stairway opens to a landing, which leads to three guest-bedroom suites, as well as a forth bedroom that Sorrel uses as a study. The floors upstairs are covered in hardwood.

Because the floor plan offers a first-floor master suite with other bedrooms upstairs, the house provides privacy for all while working well for her family, says Sorrel, who has a son and daughter.

"It would also work well for a couple who have visiting children and grandchildren," she says.

The house is also ready for its next occupants, because it’s "absolutely turnkey," she adds: "No one notices, but all the systems are brand new. Since I did this myself, I paid attention to details and I used quality materials."